Today’s R2S: Mexican Govt. Steps In To Protect Sea Turtles

The Mexican government has denied permits to build a 520-room hotel, which would have built twenty-three buildings and an artificial lake just inland from the Xcacel beach, north of the resort of Tulum. That is one of the most common nesting beaches for sea turtles in all of the Yucatan Peninsula.

The beach is a nesting area for loggerhead, hawksbill and green sea turtles. Worldwide, six of the seven sea turtle species are classified as threatened or endangered due to human actions and lifestyles, which include poaching, fishing, and plastic.